BRIEF HISTORICAL SUMMARY : Introduced to France long before its official recognition in 1970
this newcomer from Madagascar quickly acquired a prominent position amongst the companion
dogs of this country ; today it is widespread all over the world.

IMPORTANT PROPORTIONS :
* The height at the withers in relationship to the length of the body is 2 to 3.
* The length of the head in relationship to that of the body is 2 to 5.
* The length of the skull in relationship to that of the muzzle is 9 to 5.BEHAVIOUR / TEMPERMENT : Of a happy temperament, stable, very sociable with humans and
with other dogs ; it adapts perfectly to all ways of life. The temperament of the
Coton de
Tulear is one of the main characteristics of the breed.

HEAD : Short, seen from above triangular.CRANIAL REGION :
Skull : Seen from the front slightly rounded ; rather wide in relation to its length. Superciliary
arches only slightly developed. Slight frontal groove. Occipital protuberance and crest only
slightly accentuated. Well developed zygomatic arches.
Stop : slight.FACIAL REGION :
Nose : In the extension of the nasal bridge ; black ; brown is tolerated ; nostrils wide open.
Muzzle : Straight.
Lips : Fine, tight, of the same colour as the nose.
Jaws/Teeth : Teeth well aligned. Scissor bite, pincer bite or inverted bite without losing
contact.
The absence of PM1s is not penalised ; the M3s are not taken into consideration.
Cheeks : Lean.
Eyes : Rather rounded, dark, lively, wide apart ; the rims of the eyelids are well pigmented with
black or brown according to the color of the nose.
Ears : Pendulous, triangular, high set on the skull, fine at the tips ; carried close to the cheeks,
reaching the corners of the lips. Covered with white hairs or with some traces of light grey
(mixture of white and black hairs giving a light grey appearance) or red-roan (mixture of
white and fawn hairs giving a red-roan appearance - lemon).NECK : Well muscled, slightly arched. Neck well set into shoulders.
Proportion of neck to body = 1/5. Clean neck with no dewlap.BODY : Topline very slightly convex. Dog longer than high.
Withers : Only slightly pronounced.
Back and loin : Strong back, topline very slightly arched. Loin well muscled.
Croup : Oblique, short and muscled.
Chest : Well developed, well let down to elbow level, long. Ribs well sprung.
Belly : Tucked up but not excessively.TAIL : Low set, in the axis of the spinal column. At rest : carried below the hock, the tip being
raised. On the move : carried gaily, curved over the back, with the point towards the nape,
the withers, the back or the loin. In dogs with abundant coat, the tip may rest on the dorsal-
lumbar region.

LIMBSFOREQUARTERS : The frontlegs are upright.
Shoulder and upper arm : Oblique shoulder, muscled. Scapulo-humeral angle about 120 degrees. The
length of the upper arm corresponds approximatively to that of the shoulder blade.
Lower arm : Humero-radial angle : about 120 degrees. Lower arms vertical and parallel, well muscled,
with good bone. The length of the lower arm corresponds approximatively to that of the
upper arm.
Carpus (Pastern joint) : A continuation of the line of the lower arm.
Metacarpals (Pastern) : Strong, seen in profile sloping very slightly.
Forefeet : Small, round, toes tight, arched ; pads pigmented.HINDQUARTERS : The hindlegs are upright. Though dewclaws are not sought, their presence is
not penalised.
Upper thigh : Strongly muscled ; coxo-femoral angle about 80 degrees.
Lower thigh : Oblique, forming with the femur an angle of about 120 degrees.
Hock joint : dry, well defined, angle of the hock about 160 degrees.
Metatarsals (Rear pasterns) : vertical.
Hind feet : Similar to forefeet.

GAIT / MOVEMENT : Free and flowing, without covering a lot of ground ; topline retained on the
move. No sign of uneven movement.

SKIN : Fine, stretched tight over all the body ; although of pink color, it can be pigmented.

COATHAIR : This is one of the main characteristics of the breed from which its very name derives. Very
soft and supple, with the texture of cotton, never hard or rough, the coat is dense, profuse and
can be very slightly wavy.COLOUR : Ground colour : White. A few slight shadings of light grey colour(mixture af white and
black hairs) or of red-roan (mixture of white and fawn hairs) are permitted on the ears. On
other parts of the body, such shadings can be tolerated if they do not alter the general
appearance of white coat. They are however not sought after.

SIZE AND WEIGHT :
Height at withers :
Males : 26-28 cm (10.2-11.0 in.), tolerance of 2 cm above and 1 cm below.
Bitches : 23-25 cm (9.1-9.8 in.), tolerance of 2 cm above and 1 cm below.
Weight:
Males : From 4 kg (8.8 lb.) to a maximum of 6 kg (13.2 lb.).
Bitches : From 3,5 kg (7.7 lb.)to a maximum of 5 kg (11.0 lb.).FAULTS : Any departure from the foregoing points should be considered a fault and the
seriousness with which the fault should be regarded should be in exact proportion to its degree.

ELIMINATING FAULTS :
General type :
Lack of type (insufficient breed characteristics, which means that the animal on the whole does
not sufficiently resemble other examples of the breed).
Size and weight outside the requirements and tolerance of the standard.
Particular points :
Foreface : Bridge of nose convex.
Eyes : Bulging, with signs of dwarfism ; too light ; wall eyes.
Ears : Pricked or semi-pricked.
Tail : Not reaching to hock ; high set, completely curled (forming a tight ring) ; carried flat on
the back or against the thighs ; carried candle like; tailless.
Hair : Atypical, tightly curled, woolly, silky.
Colour : Heavily marked ; any marking of a definite black.
Pigmentation : Total lack of pigment on eyerimes, nose or lips.
Anomalies :
Overshot or undershot mouth with lack of contact between the incisors ; vertical gaping of the incisors.
Absence of teeth other than the PM1s or the M3s.
Aggressive or extremely shy specimen.
N.B. : Male animals should have two apparently normal testicles fully descended into the
scrotum.